The BJP on Thursday attacked the Trinamool Congress "for setting a new record of lowering the dignity of Parliament with their conduct" after party MP Anurag Thakur accused some members of the Bengal ruling party of smoking e-cigarettes in the Lok Sabha chamber.
Thakur raised the issue in the middle of Question Hour, catching the House by surprise. Speaker Om Birla took serious note of the allegation and asked Thakur to submit his complaint in writing, assuring him of appropriate action. The charge immediately led to noisy exchanges between Trinamool and BJP members.
“E-cigarettes have been banned across the country. Have you allowed them in the House?” Thakur, the MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, asked the Speaker. “No. No honourable member has been allowed to smoke e-cigarettes,” Birla replied.
The BJP MP went on to claim that Trinamool MPs have been smoking e-cigarettes inside the House for the past couple of days, though he did not name any member. “Sir, TMC MPs are smoking. TMC MPs have been sitting here and smoking for the past few days. You should get it checked,” he urged the Speaker.
Reiterating that rules and traditions of the House must be followed, Birla said he would take action if a formal complaint is made. “I would again urge the honourable members that rules and traditions of the House have to be followed. If any such complaint comes to me, action will definitely be taken,” Birla said.
As Thakur insisted that smoking inside the House was a “very serious issue”, Trinamool members retorted sharply while BJP members shouted back. The House returned to order after this but a row erupted again outside the Lok Sabha in the afternoon.
Trinamool MP Sougata Roy was seen smoking (not an e-cigarette) outside the main Makar Dwar entrance of Parliament. Union culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and textiles minister Giriraj Singh confronted him for "violating the rules”, although in a lighter vein. “This is a public space. You are endangering all of us,” Shekhawat told Roy with a smile. Singh said “dada” was smoking a real cigarette.